Raspberry Pi creator takes to Kickstarter to fund Elite sequel

THE CREATOR of the Raspberry Pi, David Braben is looking backwards for his next project and has started work on a sequel to Elite, the game that he created in the 1980s.

You might remember Elite as the game you played at school, when you were supposed to be doing computer studies, or at home, when you were supposed to be doing your homework.

The game was on the BBC Micro and Acorn personal computers of the 1980s and is fondly remembered by anyone that played it.

It was one of the first games to use wireframe 3D modelling, and hey, we are still talking about that to this day.

Braben has put the game sequel, called Elite Dangerous up on crowdfunding website Kickstarter. It will be there until 4 January next year, and despite being live for only one day has already raised four percent of its £1,250,000 target. Its 1,122 backers have laid down £53,197 to see the game return.

"The next game in the Elite series - an amazing space epic with stunning visuals, incredible gameplay and breath-taking scope, but this time you can play with your friends too," says Braben.

"Up to now 'Elite' has been worked upon by a small team as a 'skunk-works' activity in the background as availability permits. Nevertheless, we have been preparing; laying the technology and design foundations for when the time is right. And that time is now."

Elite Dangerous will be huge in scale, and multiplayer, and Braben plans to release it on the PC in March 2014. µ